Republicans gather in Lapeer in celebration of the GOP

Dear Editor,

The Lapeer Center was the site of the Annual Lincoln Day Dinner of the Lapeer County Republican Party. This gathering is the sole fundraiser hosted by the LCRP to support campaigns and share information with the citizens of Lapeer County. This event is always a great opportunity for party members and elected officials to meet and strengthen their resolve for advancing the Republican agenda.

Our Congresswoman Candice Miller addressed the audience as to the changes in Washington, and to her chairing of the Rudi Giuliani Presidential Campaign. State Rep. John Stahl and State Sen. Jud Gilbert gave brief updates as to the continued budgeting problems in Lansing. The evening's keynote speaker was Michigan Supreme Court Justice Cliff Taylor. He noted various proposals he has suggested to cut costs to assist the state in balancing the budget. The recommendation that all state supreme and appellate justices get rid of their state provided vehicles was accepted. His proposal to cut back the number of justices in the appellate and district courts was not well received. It was noted that the Court of Appeals was recently expanded to handle higher case loads. This past year the number of cases has dropped dramatically; therefore it is logical to cut the number of justices back to the original staffing.

In addition, due to population shifts we have some areas that are overly represented due to lost population. Justice Taylor recommended to our governor that she should not fill the vacancies in these areas, thereby saving substantial sums of money. Her response as headlined in the Detroit papers was 'Drop dead.' It is clear that the governor views the way to balance our budget and make Michigan competitive is only by raising taxes. While the rest of us must economize during tough times, our representatives in Lansing are asking us to dig deeper in our pockets for even more public spending. The old statement of bureaucracies is switching their focus from their mission to governing (and perpetuating) themselves is on clear display a hundred miles west on I-69.

The evening was ended with taps. The dinner was once again a great success and many well deserved thanks go out to those who organized this annual event to honor the memory of our first Republican president, President Abraham Lincoln.